~ Watch Me ~

Steel Birds

The early hours in Midgar were not forgiving ones, and fully exposed up on the helipad, the wind bit unremittedly at Rose's exposed skin. She fought back a shiver, dutifully waiting for Sephiroth and the others to arrive.

Beside her were a small group of Troops, all in idle conversation, excited about their deployment to Wutai. Rose only wished she felt the same, the true weight of it finally beginning to hit home with her.

What if she wasn't ready? What if she got killed? What if she had to kill someone else? The latter of these thoughts was suddenly very real, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that the idea of it made her feel a little sick. Yes this was war, but the other side were people too. People who didn't have Shinra's elite tech or marvelled fighters. The scales seemed incredibly unbalanced in her eyes.

"Ma'am?"

Rose looked up, surprised at being addressed in such a formal way, but of course she out-ranked the currant gaggle of Troops. One of them, a woman with rich chocolate skin, was looking at her. She caught her eye, and the woman smiled, but Rose couldn't make out her face behind the helmet.

"Yes?"

"You're Rose Hewley, aren't you?"

Rose nodded.

"It's a pleasure to be working with you, Ma'am. I'm Sarah, Sarah Reed." She threw her hand out, and Rose shook it. Sarah nodded over her shoulder. "And that idiot behind me is my cousin, Arthur. I believe you've met?"

Rose frowned, drawing a blank at first, but then the name Reed began to ring some bells, and with a sinking sensation she remembered why she recognised it.

"Oh." Rose's brow knitted together apologetically, remembering the name of the poor Troop she'd hit with her uncontainable light. "Hello again. Sorry, y'know, about before."

Arthur, who had turned at the sound of his name, shrugged. "No worries. Surprises are good for the reflexes."

With that he turned back to the others, their voices still bubbling with excitement at the oncoming mission.

Rose looked at Sarah. "It really was an accident."

Sarah laughed. "Ah don't worry about it. I'd say it would have knocked some sense into him, if his head wasn't so thick."

This made Rose feel a little better, and she laughed.

"Listen, I just wanted to say," Sarah continued, her voice suddenly very serious. "I've worked with your brother before - he's a good man - I'm sure working with you will be no different. Really, what I wanted to let you know is... I know you're SOLDIER, but you're also new to this. If you need any kind of back up, any at all, you can count on me."

Rose blinked, slightly taken aback by the sincerity in this virtual stranger's voice. Nether the less. she found herself smiling gratefully, even a little lost for words.

"Erm, thank you. And, y'know, likewise." She added a little awkwardly, feeling herself warm to Sarah's abrupt, but kind attitude.

She was older than Rose, maybe even a little more than Angeal. She had a strange motherly nature about her, hidden though it was, beneath the necessary army traits that had been drilled into her over the years.

Sarah clapped Rose lightly on the arm, and with a light nod, returned to the group of Troops she clearly headed, and fell effortlessly into their conversation.

Rose found it a comforting sight.

"Where the hell have you been, I thought we were walking up together?"

Rose turned, welcomed by the sight of Zack and Kunsel marching speedily towards her. She levelled her gaze at the latter.

"I was done early, thought I'd head up. I did message you." She added finally, glancing pointedly towards his pocket. "Don't you check your phone?"

"He's lost it." Zack answered for him smugly, knocking his shoulder playfully. "Had one too many the other night. Didn't you friend?"

"Leave off." Kunsel snapped, shoving him back. "It was Michael's fault."

Rose raised her brows. "Michael the Manager?"

"The very same."

"What did he do?"

The question actually forced Kunsel's irritation to disperse into a fond, and loving smirk.

"I wouldn't want to ruin your sweet, innocent mind with the gritty details. But lets just say it involved a balcony, and a shit ton of tequila, and leave it at that."

Rose's imagination slapped debauched images across her mind, and she pulled a face.

"I don't want to know, do I?"

"Probably not, no."

She rolled her eyes. "Noted."

Behind Kunsel and Zack, she suddenly spied the un-ignorable approach of Sephiroth and Angeal. The image of them set such a presence, that the chatter immediately died down to silence. The Troops falling into a stiff line, whilst Rose, Zack and Kunsel stood dutifully off to one side.

The sight of Sephiroth cause her heart to skip, but this time Rose remembered herself.

Angeal spoke first. "The Copter will be arriving shortly. I trust you're all prepared?"

"Yes, Sir!" The Troops rallied.

Rose and her counterparts offered stiff nods.

"Good. Because once we board, there will be no place to get supplies." Angeal glanced at Sephiroth. "You want to impart the next bit, or shall I carry on?"

"You seem to have things in hand." Sephiroth replied, smiling as though recalling some amusing inside joke.

From the answering look on Angeal's face, maybe he was.

"Right." Angeal faced the rest of them again. "There have been reports that Wutai have got their hands on some pretty strong Summon Materia. It is our job to neutralise this threat, and commandeer the Materia for Shinra. Intelligence gathered has given us a good idea of where to look, but it is in an area that has numbers, and a strong defence - hence our own heavy group." He paused, the sound of an approaching helicopter silencing him. "Looks like our ride is here. We'll impart more details once we're on the ground, ready up."

Rose was a little stunned, she'd never seen her brother act so military. Around her the Troops picked up equipment, some with bags that held supplies, others just with weapons. Rose felt the weight of her own sword on her back, and allowed it to centre her. There was no turning back now, nerves or no, she needed to get a grip.

The copter landed, and the Troops bundled in first, followed closely by a buzzing Zack.

"C'mon guys! Lets go!"

Rose and Kunsel, sharing equally despondent looks, climbed in after him.

Inside, the copter smelt strongly of a strange mix of sweat and metal. Wrinkling her nose, Rose tried to ignore it, nestling herself securely into a seat between Kunsel and Zack. Angeal and Sephiroth settled themselves opposite, and Rose fumbled for her safety straps.

Kunsel snorted. "You know, you don't have to wear those."

Clicking the belt firmly into place, Rose briefly glanced around. Kunsel was right. No one else had bothered to strap themselves in.

"It's fine." She said quickly. "Might as well leave it now."

She felt the hum of the copter's engine beneath her feet, and gripped her restraints harder. She hadn't thought this was going to be an issue – she'd done the training – but Rose suddenly learnt something about herself.

She didn't particularly care for flying.

Rose could feel Kunsel's eyes on her, appraising the small bits of information the sight of her was giving him. She tried very hard not to let her fear shine through – she was in SOLDIER, she had a standard to uphold – but then the copter lurched upwards, and her barely stifled yelp was heard by all.

"Oh wow, you don't like flying." Kunsel grinned, barely keeping the laughter out of his voice. He looked over her head at Zack. "Did you know about this?"

"News to me." He shrugged, shifting over, and kindly touching her shoulder. "It's okay Rose. These things hardly ever crash."

Knowing he really meant well, Rose fought not to glare at him. "Thank you, Zack, that's very comforting."

Kunsel was plain laughing now, unable to contain himself. "Amazing. This is going to be a fun four hours."

Four hours. Rose felt her blood pressure drop. How the hell was she going to do this for four hours?

"I'm fine." She said, more to herself than anyone else. "It's gonna be fine." She took a deep breath

"You might want to tell your face that." Kunsel sniggered, shaking his head disbelievingly. "You're white as a sheet."

Rose tried to ignore him. Tried to ignore the shaking of the metal walls, caused by the outside air pressure. She tried not to notice every time the copter dipped, or tilted, or blew off course, but it was like trying not to ignore an electric shock. Every abnormality sent a cold chill straight through her.

"Rose."

Angeal. He was speaking to her, his face appearing to struggle between true concern and brotherly amusement.

She narrowed her eyes, unsure which one she was about to get. "Yes?"

"You're not going to throw up, are you?"

She shook her head.

"Good." He smiled. "Because I'm right in your line of fire."

Rose laughed, albeit slightly breathlessly. "It's okay, I'll aim it in Kunsel's direction."

"Like hell you will." The Third Class SOLDIER replied, recoiling from her side slightly.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Try thinking about something else."

It was not Angeal that spoke this time, but Sephiroth. Like her brother, he seemed to find her discomfort somewhat of an entertaining spectacle, but unlike Angeal, his voice was a welcome enough distraction.

Rose swallowed hard. "Okay. You got any suggestions?"

He smiled softly. "Just focus. I'm sure something will come to mind."

Rose nodded dumbly, thankful for her paled complexion as she felt the telltale rush of blood fill her cheeks. Sephiroth's words had sounded so suggestive, it made her wonder if he was purposely referring to the late hours of the night before. The hours the two of them spent alone in her room, training and missions forgotten, their bodies making new and exquisite shapes on her soft welcoming bedsheets.

If it had been Sephiroth's intention, it was working. Rose felt her body relax, and her stomach loosen, but couldn't help feeling he was playing very devil may care. Especially with Angeal sitting right there.

And he had lectured her about being to obvious.

Still, perhaps it had been an innocent suggestion, and it was Rose's own mind that chose to twist it into something more seductive. Unhelpfully, Sephiroth often had that effect on her.

Angeal cleared his throat, and her gaze snapped up. "Feel better?"

Not trusting herself to speak, or liking the strange look her brother was now giving her, she nodded, and he resignedly folded his arms.

To her side, Zack gently patted her back. "It's okay, Rose. Only three and a half hours to go now. Three, if we get some good tail winds."

She tried her best to smile. "Wonderful."

Her fingers curved tighter around her restraints, her eyes momentarily meeting Sephiroth's sharp Mako wells.

It was going to be a long flight.

R&R!

Hey guys! How you all doing? Well I hope? Please let me know how you're feeling about the story. Reviews are always so appreciated. I'm going to try and update more regularly this week, just because I want Wutai to really be read as one.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, fav'd and followed, and of course, simply read XxxX